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Electronics


explosion of genomics in the 1980s and the development of high-throughput DNA sequencing that laid the groundwork for the rapid growth of microfluidic technology. In the past 25 years, progress in the field of microfluidics has made it important for commercial product development across several industries. This has been especially true in the field of diagnostics.


Despite developments within it leading to many devices that significantly outperform their predecessors, as well as the creation of completely novel technologies, microfluidics is still considered a discipline in adolescence. This is partially due to a lack of standards to inform how microfluidics works in combination with other technologies, like the electronic components of a lab-on-chip diagnostic. Until now, this lack of standards has been a result of commercial microfluidic enterprises failing to adequately demonstrate a need for their technology – but Covid-19 may well have changed that.


For scientists trying to fully understand the virus while developing new vaccines and rapid diagnostic tools, microfluidics has been crucial. Market research company Yole believes the instruments developed for molecular diagnostics, immunoassays, rapid point-of-care tests and high-throughput processes for centralised labs, will continue in use. This is reflected by the prediction in its ‘Status of the Microfluidics Industry 2020’ report that growth of the microfluidics product market will occur at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% to reach $24.5bn by 2025. The point-of-care testing (POCT) market alone is expected to reach $24.5m by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.7 %. Yole analysts predicted in late 2020 that the opening of new opportunities in areas such as travel and workplaces – with rapid passenger or visitor screening – that represent billions of potential tests every year, will be needed to help restart the world’s economy. As countries around the world lifted restrictions put in place to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, we’ve certainly seen testing for the virus carry on in workplaces, where the risk of transmission is also a financial risk to the business. On top of this, many countries still have testing requirements in place for those wishing to visit, and certain airlines now provide the test as part of their package. Another reason for the increased use of POCT technologies is government support for them, which Yole analysts believe will lead to continued development so that countries are better prepared in case of another future pandemic. With all of this in mind, the diagnostics sector may make the best of this bad situation and turn it into a springboard for growth.


Medical Device Developments / www.nsmedicaldevices.com


Cepheid GeneXpert machine with Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test inside.


Microfluidics combined with electronics The advantages of using such tiny fluid volumes are larger than one might imagine. The low sample volume reduces cost and accelerates the time required for analysis. The technology also allows for high controllability, higher resolution and sensitivity, without any requirement for skilled personnel or heavy equipment to operate it, which also brings safety benefits.


So, why might it take a global pandemic to help microfluidics become more than a specialist niche? As Dr Holger Becker, CEO of Microfluidic ChipShop, has described, it is difficult to combine the different modules required to replicate an entire diagnostic workflow in one microfluidic cartridge. In contrast to microelectronics, the modelling of individual elements, such as mixers, capillary stop valves or phenomena-like heat transfer with high precision, find their limits in microfluidic system modelling. The complexity and integration of several components together makes the manufacturing process of such devices intensive and expensive, which is why large-scale production has been so difficult to achieve. The pandemic gave the world a reason to invest in tackling these issues. Although PCR testing has established itself as the gold standard for the detection of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, it has disadvantages microfluidic technologies have long had the potential to address. As well as being costly and difficult to run, PCR tests take a long time to return results; but by combining electronics with microfluidics, rapid PCR can be performed in transportable microreactors, which is particularly useful for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. As such, a SARS-CoV-2 infection can be detected


$24.5bn


Expected size of the microfluidics market by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 14%.


Yole 77


Cepheid


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